Wendy Davis Steps On A Rake

The campaign of Wendy Davis to be governor of Texas stepped on a rake for the first time this weekend. The Dallas Morning News ran a lengthy -- if occasionally weird -- account of Davis's life in which some of the details of the compelling biography that helped make her an overnight star were called into question. Now, there's nothing in the DMN as seriously phony as, say, George W. Bush's ranch, but there's more than enough there for someone to make a four-course meal of it. Davis seems to have fudged -- or "blurred" -- her chronological timeline. (She was 21, and not 19, when she was a single mother.) Her marriage to Jeff Davis involved his helping to pay for Harvard Law School, and his getting custody of the children when the two divorced, a proceeding that got a little messy, as those things will.

Over time, the Davises' marriage was strained. In November 2003, Wendy Davis moved out. Jeff Davis said that was right around the time the final payment on their Harvard Law School loan was due. "It was ironic," he said. "I made the last payment, and it was the next day she left." Wendy Davis said that as a lawyer, she contributed too. "I was a vibrant part of contributing to our family finances from the time I graduated to the time we separated in 2003," she said. "The idea that suddenly there was this instantaneous departure after Jeff had partnered so beautifully with me in putting me through school is just absurd." In his initial divorce filing, Jeff Davis said the marriage had failed, citing adultery on her part and conflicts that the couple could not overcome. The final court decree makes no mention of infidelity, granting the divorce solely "on the ground of insupportability." Amber was 21 and in college. Dru was in ninth grade. Jeff Davis was awarded parental custody. Wendy Davis was ordered to pay $1,200 a month in child support. "She did the right thing," he said. "She said, 'I think you're right; you'll make a good, nurturing father. While I've been a good mother, it's not a good time for me right now.'" Wendy Davis declined to discuss the circumstances or terms of the divorce. "When I decided to run for governor, I promised my girls we would not revisit a time that was terribly difficult for them," she said. "I will tell you it was very important to me that Dru stay in her childhood home. It was a very difficult time in our life." She said: "I very willingly, as part of my divorce settlement, paid child support. That was at my request, not any court telling me I needed to financially support my daughters.

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Attacking the messenger isn't going to work here. Wayne Slater is a damned good reporter, and by the end of the piece, even Davis's ex-husband is glowing in his description about how hard she worked to get where she is. Pointing out the obvious fact that a male candidate likely would not be treated this way isn't the way to go, either.

I have no idea why Davis and her campaign didn't get out front on this stuff. "Hey, I was 21 and not 19, and my marriage was more complicated than I said it was, the way most marriages are, and these are the precise details of what it was like and how it ended." This isn't, as she claims, an example of needing "tighter language." Saying you were 19 when you were 21, and forgetting the mention that your ex-husband put you through law school isn't speaking loosely. It's sinning by omission, and you have to know the consequences, especially if you're a woman running in Texas, if you get found out. This isn't language. This is Candidate Vetting 101.

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Anyway,the flying monkeys are out in force. (Notice the Virgin Ben Shapiro with the two-rail shot at Senator Professor Warren. Yeah, like that issue wasn't completely vetted during the 2012 campaign.) The statement from Davis and her campaign isn't nearly good enough. She needs to organize some very smart people in one very quick hurry. All she had to be in this campaign was perfect. That was something everybody knew from jump. Somebody let somebody down here.